A Circle Divided
by Elaina
Summary: Erm...strange happenings when Sandry tries to contact Briar. This comes after Magic Steps, if you havn't read it, Briar, Daja and Tris are abroad Sandry gets a student Pasco. That's all you need to know to get this.
1. Default Chapter Title

A Circle Divided

By Elaina

Lady Sandrilene Fa Toren looked up from her notebook, and grinned when she saw her student Pasco actually concentrating on his meditating. She put down her brush and ink and settled back to watch the monumental occasion, but was disappointed when Pasco and Yazmin, his dance teacher stood up a moment later and started to stretch. 

"I'm very impressed," Sandry said loudly, "you don't even need to be warded anymore."

Pasco blushed at the unexpected praise and started to trace circle on the floor with his toe. "Oh, stop it," he muttered gruffly "s'not anything to be proud of"

"But of course!" Sandry cried "this means you've got control more control of your power now, which is a very important step, indeed. Anyway, it's time we got on with our lesson. I have been working on a new spell that I need your and Yasmin's help with."

Sandry handed the book over to them, flipping to the page that she had last been writing on. She sat down on a bench and waited as they looked over the explanation of the spell and ideas for the corresponding dance, deciding after a few seconds that she would try and contact Briar to tell him of Paso's progress. That winter's frost had been extremely harsh, and Rosethorn and Briar had been forced to return to Summersea while Rosethron helped care for Winding Circle's many gardens. In that period of time, Briar and Pasco had become good friends, and, though Briar had left again once the spring came, he and Rosethron had decided to stay closer to home. 

"Are you going to need me?" Sandry asked.

"Not for a couple of minutes," Yazmin called back, her nose still buried in the notebook.

Sandry closed her eyes, and called for Briar. When he didn't answer, she yelled louder and louder, until she had an incredible migraine and her ears were ringing. With a sigh, she slipped from her body and flung herself out into the wind, throwing her whole self into the search for Briar. Sandry soared over the countryside on the breezes, spinning herself into a long, cream-colored thread as she went, and groping in her mind for the green silken thread of Briar's magic that would make him easier to find. She suddenly saw it shining in the distance and grabbed it, then spun it into her thread and once more began to search the landscape around her, putting more energy into it this time.

She saw him! He was strolling through a lovely maze of overflowing gardens with Rosethorn, identifying different plants as they moved along, and naming off their various uses. She vaguely wondered if it would be rude to draw Briar away from his lesson, then, upon reminding herself that Briar wouldn't really care, called his name. Once more, Briar didn't answer, in fact, he gave no indication that he had even heard her. 

_"Briar!" _Sandry shouted_, "you can't see me, but I'm right above you. Briar! It's me, Sandry. Answer, please!"_

Once more, all was silent. Did he honestly not hear her? Was he mad at her (though his normal reaction was to attack anyone he was mad at, not give them the cold shoulder)? Or was he just being rude? 

_"Please Briar! If you're in a lesson and want to be left alone, just tell me, and I'll go."_

_ _

Suddenly, Sandry was being sucked down into a black void, the terrible sensation of cold, damp darkness, swirling all around her. She started to scream; a part of her thought Briar would surely hear her blood-curdling cries for help. She saw flashes of her friends and the people she loved fly by: perhaps this would be the last time she would see them, as she was surely going to die. This last thought jarred her to her senses, and she threw out thick cords, hoping something would catch hold of one, and lift her spirit to safety. Deciding not to risk her life on the slip chance that that idea would work, Sandry began to weave some threads below her to make a safety net to catch her. She never got to try it out.

Falling off the bench was probably the luckiest thing that ever happened to her. Her spirit came jumping back to her body, saved from the inner perils that were lurking in her own mind. One foggy thought flitted across her brain, as she stared at the scratched and dented floor of Yazmin's dance studio: _Where had the darkness come from? _Then she passed out.

A/N: Yikes! Anyway, I'd just like to thank Ninamazing for suggesting this page to Xing. Now all we need is a Diane Duane page and an Original Avengers page, and ff.net will be complete (in my opinion, anyway) Well, we more authors, so let's get recruiting!!! I KNOW Alanna will write for this page (she's out of town, but she gets back tonight, so I'll tell her) as will Sandry and Tris (guess where the three of them got their names) Okies, I'll just stop now. Anyway, thanx again to Ninamazing; we love you!!!! You are sooo cool! 


	2. Default Chapter Title

A Circle Divided: Part 2

By, Elaina

Sandry awoke to find her Uncle hovering over her bed, his face taut with worry. She shook her foggy head in an attempt to clear it, and carefully sat up. She quickly thrust her hands back to steady herself, mind reeling: her center of gravity must have been off. Sandry carefully explored a small section of her magic, taking it and turning it over and over, searching for any signs of the darkness. There was none. 

"Sandry," The duke's voice startled her "Sandry, how are you feeling." 

"Not wonderful," Sandry admitted. She figured it was better to tell the truth-her Uncle would worry even if she said she was fine. "Not terrible, either," She hastily added. The healers who bent over her and began to interrogate Sandry on all the different symptoms she possessed cut off her Uncle's question "What exactly made you..." 

"Are you feeling dizzy?" 

"Do your legs feel weak?" 

"Can you think clearly?" 

"What letter comes after S in the alphabet?" 

"Can you see my face?" 

"Do our voices sound normal to you?" 

"What is your name?" 

"How old are you?" 

It was a bit overwhelming. Suddenly a gap in the wall of healers appeared, and Pasco, Sandry's 13-year-old student, thrust his head in to look at her. Though she couldn't hear what he was trying to say, his face showed anxiety, pity, and even fright. Sandry mentally kicked herself. It hadn't occurred to her until now, just how close Pasco and she had gotten. It was stupid, really. Lark was almost like a mother, or an older sister to her, and Tris, Daja, and Briar all had the same relationships with their teachers. 

"Please, please, one at a time!" Sandry smiled at her Uncle's attempts to restore order. "She needs her rest!" 

"I'm fine, Uncle" Sandry said. "I'm really feeling much better. I must have just hit my head or something." 

He looked at her suspiciously. "I don't believe you. You're just trying to keep me from worrying." "And your face gives it away." He added as an after thought. 

"Honestly. It's nothing really. Much worse things have happened to me before, and you didn't get near as worked up about them." 

The Duke looked hard at Sandry, for a few minutes, his thoughts a hurricane of conflict and emotions, then sighed, the resignation plain on his face. "Clear the room immediately, everything is fine." 

Sandry smiled. 

~*~*~*~

Sandry sat in her own bed at night, thinking dark thoughts of everything that had happened that day. This certainly was an interesting predicament, not just for her, but for her friends, too. Would the same thing happen if she tried to contact the others, or was it just Briar? Had Tris and Daja felt it? Had Briar felt it and had the same reaction as her? What if some outside force was doing this, or what if...what if it were Briar? This last thought was the most terrible of all, and Sandry quickly banished it from her mind, determined not to accuse her friend of doing the unthinkable-purposely hurting the people who loved and trusted him. 

Sandry shivered and wrapped her blanket tightly around her-never mind that it was 95° out-and began her mental debate. She could try and contact Tris and Daja, but the darkness could grab her again and there might not be anything to help her this time. She had dealt in un-magic before, but this was nothing like it. This wasn't visible, wasn't tangible. It was something inside her own mind, (or was it Briar's?) something waiting to grab her and suck her in upon herself if she reached or probed to far. That was the frightening part. Could any amount of protection save her from this unseen foe? What if it was slowly eating away at her soul, till there was nothing left? 

Sandry flopped over, and buried her head in her pillow, attempting to hide from all the what-ifs swarming around her. Her mind made up, Sandry closed her eyes and stretched out, searching for Tris. 

~*~*~*~

_Tris, Tris? Answer Tris, I know you can hear me!_ Tris groaned and rolled over; she was having a perfectly lovely dream, and Sandry was spoiling it. 

_What do you want?_ She snapped, peeved at the thought of Sandry trying to talk to her so late. Whatever this was, it had better be good. 

_It's important!_

Tris groaned again, but her tone softened. _Go ahead._ She heard Sandry give a sigh of relief, though it was a bit muffled, as was the rest of her talking-Sandry must be on the edge of her range. They HAD ventured out further in the past couple of months, after all. She doubted Sandry would even be able to find Daja. 

_You aren't dreaming me._

_That's good to know, now get on with it._ Tris heard Sandry sigh once more. 

_Well, I tried to contact Briar today, but he wouldn't respond, so I dove down deep into his mind and attempted to get his attention. When I did that, I suddenly found myself surrounded by all this darkness that was sucking me down into my own mind, and had I not fallen on to the floor and bumped my head, I'm sure I would have been unable to escape, and died._

Silence. 

_Sandry,_ Tris said finally, her mind whirling, _was it anything like the un-magic you told us about? _

_No._

Tris suddenly felt like her feet were being pulled down into a funnel cloud, and she was spinning round and round and tumbling into a bottomless pit, with nobody, and nothing to catch her. Then it was gone. 

_That's what it felt like._ _Now Tris, wake up and write this down, otherwise you won't remember it, in the morning._

Tris awoke and sleepily rubbed her eyes, then with a snort of indignation and a flourish of her brush, proceeded to copy down all that Sandry had told and shown her. 

~*Finis*~

A/N: Better then the last one? Please, please, please review! Next one out sooner then this one... 


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